ORBOTIX: $15.5 million to Boulder, CO-based Orbotix in a Series D round from Shea Ventures, Grishin Robotics and Foundry Group. Founded in 2010, Orbotix is best known as the developer of Sphero, a robotic ball that can be controlled and programmed on a mobile device. Since then it has "rolled" out another robot, Ollie, along with an education initiative, SPRK, that includes lesson plans with math, programming and storytelling activities. (A classroom pack of 10 Spheros runs $599; details here.) More from the Orbotix CEO's thoughts on the importance of "connected play" in the press release.
